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Hunter

The Hunter

Shekarchi

Rafi Pitts

  • Country: Iran
  • Year: 2010
  • Language: Farsi
  • Producer: Thanassis Karathanos
  •  
  • Screenplay: Rafi Pitts
  • Runtime: 92
  • Programmes:

Recently released from prison, Ali makes the most of his reunion with his wife and young daughter, amidst much talk of the upcoming elections and promises of change. When tragedy strikes, Ali takes matters into his own hands and the line between hunter and hunted becomes difficult to define.

screening times

    • Sunday September 12
    • 6:45:00 PM
    • AMC 7
    • Thursday September 16
    • 6:15:00 PM
    • AMC 7
    • Sunday September 19
    • 9:30:00 AM
    • Tiff Bell LightBox 2

Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description

A powerful portrayal of the effects of political oppression, The Hunter depicts a war of two worlds: the chaos of Tehran’s unforgiving city streets and the misty solitude of its snow-covered hinterland.

Ali (Rafi Pitts) lives in a cramped apartment overlooking the highway with his loving wife, Sara (Mitra Hajjar), and their precious six-year-old daughter, Saba (Saba Yaghoobi). Recently released from prison, Ali is forced into an oppressive job as a night watchman. His only consolation is his family, though their reunion proves almost as temporary as Tehran’s short-lived Green Revolution. Coming home from work one day, Ali finds his loved ones gone. After a long and fruitless interaction with the local police, the tragic news is delivered: his wife has been killed in the crossfire between police and protesters and his little girl is missing, presumed dead.

Fuelled by paternal anxiety, Ali takes to the streets, the city now his sworn enemy. But what he doesn’t know is who is responsible for the murders: is it the police or the political opposition? Unable to find answers in the confusion, Ali takes his high-powered rifle and exacts his own vengeance before fleeing to the hills outside the city. Filled with a bitterness that brings him focus and purpose, Ali must escape two feuding policemen who are out for his blood.

This beautifully sparse narrative lends itself to insightful interpretations of Iran’s contemporary political climate, but also stands alone as an evocative exploration of the lengths to which a man will go to avenge his family. Backed by unforgettable images of Iranian landscapes and a haunting sound design, Ali’s emotional state is writ large across the lonely woodland. As Ali retreats farther into the hills, his persecutors are dwarfed to toy-soldier proportions by the labyrinthine forest. The only thing that remains to be seen is which party will emerge victorious. Will it be Ali, weighed down by a righteous kill, or Tehran’s mercenary police officers? Maybe the forest will defeat them both.

Dimitri Eipides

director bio

Rafi Pitts was born in Mashad, Iran and studied film andcinematography at Harrow College of Higher Education (then part of thePolytechnic of Central London). He moved to France in 1991, where he made hisfirst short film, In Exile (01), followed by Salandar (94). Hemade his feature directorial debut with Season Five (01), followed bythe feature films Sanam (03), It’s Winter (06) and The Hunter (10).

full credits

Principal Cast: Rafi Pitts, Mitra Hajjar, Ali Nicksaulat, Hassan Ghalenoi, Manoochehr Rahimi
Producer: Thanassis Karathanos
Cinematographer: Mohammad Davudi
Editor: Hassan Hassandoost
Sound: Hossein Bashash
Production Designer: Malak Khazai

Canadian Distributor: Olive Films  
International Sales Agent: The
Production Company: Twenty Twenty Vision
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